Shakespeare uses his play ‘the tempest’ to depict a microcosm of his society. assignment

It is Prospero’s sphere of control and in this way he is symbolic of God. He has ultimate control over the happenings within the island like God apparently does over the human race. There are continuous power struggles that develop on the island. Again, the play mirrors Shakespeare’s patriarchal reality which placed emphasis on the Christian god. When analysing the play as a microcosm of society, the power struggles can be treated as a reflection of the political landscape of the time the play was written. The play shows obvious distinction between those with and without power and those who challenge it.

The relationship between a father and daughter is portrayed in Act 1 Scene 2. Prospero and his daughter, Miranda are introduced to the audience along with their background. Prospero is a dominant character who holds significant power and exerts his control over others, even his own daughter, and is also wise and vengeful. Miranda assumes the ultimate feminine role, has naive, vacuous and empathetic attributes. She is the only female character present in the play in an island of males. Miranda is objectified by Caliban who tries to rape her and she is provided with no power whatsoever.

Caliban is depicted to be controlled by instinct whereas the other characters, namely Ferdinand, exercise sexual constraint and thus are viewed as higher beings by that society. Prospero attempts to teach Caliban his language. Caliban addresses the fact that the only benefit is that he can curse, injects the whole scenario with irony. “ You taught me language, and my profit on’t Is, I know how to curse. ” (Act 1 Scene 2, line 363). This irony could be interpreted as a statement for the contradictions embedded in colonisation.

In reality many native Americans contracted disease and bad habits from their encounter with the Europeans. Another bad habit that Caliban learned was the excessive consumption of alcohol, from the wine butler Stephano. A connection can be drawn from the humorous drunken characters to the sinister way that Prospero is ‘ drunk’ on power. His obsession with power accounts for the emphasis in the play of Prospero’s desire to restore his position. The story line is based on his vengeance through his control over the nobles that banished him and his actions are centered on that.

The fate and the transformation of the characters represent the values of Shakespeare. He uses the devices of the two settings as a playground to explore human ideologies and communicate his ideas on society. The locations are developed by the playwright as dramatic devices to communicate and explore thematic ideas. The ship conveys the forceful application of status and the power associated with it and the island addresses the issue of colonialism, religion and gender.